Spine-stretching device.



PATENTED SEPT. s, 1903.

APPLICATION FILED DEG. 29, 1902.

N0 MODEL. v

N VE N 7 0/? J40,

A TTORN E Y.

m: NORRIS PETERS c0 PNOTO-UTHQ, \usm Yatented September 8, 1903.

P TENT OFFICE.

CARL GUST I. BLOMQVIST, OF OMAI -IA, NEBRASKA.

SPlNE- STRETCHING DEVICE.

iPEOIFIGATION forming part of Letters Patent N 0. 738,283, dated September 8, 1903.

Application filed December 29,1902. Serial No- 137,080. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, CARL GUST P. BLoM- QVIST, a citizen of the United States, residing at Omaha, in the county of Douglas and State of Nebraska, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Spine-StretchingDevices; and I do hereby declare the following to be a full, clear, and exact description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled in the art to which it appertains to make and use the same.

My invention relates to spine-stretching devices for use in straightening the spine of persons afflicted with spinal curvature.

I have found that the only safe and effective point of application for applying a tension to the spinal column for the above purpose is the bony projections at the base of the skull known as the occipital protuberances, these points lying at each side of and slightly posterior to the point at which the spinal column attaches to the skull.

My invention provides a means for engagin g these occipital protuberances and stretching the spine thereby, for adjusting said engaging means according to the width of skull of the person using the device, and for successively raisin the device as the height of the person is increased by reason of the straightening operation.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l is a plan view of the device. Fig. 2 is a side elevation of the same. Fig. 3 is a front elevation thereof. Fig. 4 is a plan view of the adjusting-wedge, and Fig. 5 is a side elevation of the same.

In the construction shown the base-block 1 has an arm 2 extending forward therefrom and supported by a bracket 3 thereunder. At its forward end the said arm 2 curves to one side, as at i, and again forward, terminating in the rounded end 5. The inner side of the arm 2 has an inclined face (3 thereon, against which rests the adjusting-wedge 7. A second arm S, having an inclined face 9 there on similar to the face 6 on the arm 2, is secured to the arm 2 by screws 10, which pass through the slot 11 in the adjusting wedge. The said arm 8 curves to one side at 2, again forward, and terminates in the rounded end 13. The said curve and rounded end are in every way similar to the curve at i and the end 5 on the first arm and are opposite to and symmetrical with the same, so that the two make in substance a fork terminating in ends rounded on the inner and upper sides thereof, as shown The base block is adapted to be fastened to a wall by screws 1a 14, passing through the slots 15 15 in the said base-block, the slots allowing the block to be adjusted as to its height on the wall.

The device when secured to a wall, as dc scribed, is placed at a height such that the rounded ends 5 and 13 are a little above the base of the skull of the person using the same. The distance between the rounded ends is then adjusted by loosening the screws 10 10 and moving the adjusting-wedge in or out until the inner and upper faces of the rounded ends 5 and 13 are at a suitable distance apart to engage with the occipital protuberances at the base of the skull of the person using the device. The screws 10 10 are then tightened, securing in position the adj ustin gwedge and the arm 8, and the device is ready for use.

The person using the device stands in front of the same, with his back toward the same, and rising or tiptoeing throws back his head until the rounded ends 5 and 13 engage with the base of the skull at the points named. The body is then lowered, so that the weight thereof is partly suspended by the device, thus causing a direct straightening tension on the spinal column.

As theuse of the device is continued and the spine straightened, the height of the person beco ming accordingly greater, the device is from time to time raised to a higher position on the wall, the slots 15 15 permitting the same to be done without removing the screws 14 and by merely loosening the same raising the device the required amount and again tightening the screws.

Now having described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secure by Letters Patent, 1s-

l. A spine-stretching device comprising a slotted base-block, arms projecting from said base-block, and rounded ends on said arms adapted to engage with the occipital protuberances at the base of the skull.

2. A spine-stretching device comprising a base block, slots therein, screws passing through said slots for securing the base-block to a wall, an arm projecting from the baseblock, a second arm secured thereto, an adjusting-wedge, and rounded ends on the arms adapted to engage with the occipital protuberances at the base of the skull, substantially as described.

3. A spine-stretching device comprising arms having rounded ends adapted to engage the occipital protuberances at the base of the skull, screws securing together said arms, an

H. J. CoWeILL, I). O. BARNELL. 

